Audioquest Columbia Interconnects

SOLID CONDUCTORS: All of Columbia’s conductors are solid. Electrical and magnetic interaction between strands in a conventional cable is the greatest source of distortion, often causing a somewhat dirty, harsh sound. Solid conductors are fundamental toward achieving Columbia's very clean sound.
PERFECT-SURFACE COPPER+ (PSC+): Columbia uses extremely high purity Perfect-Surface Copper+ (PSC+) conductors. Surface quality is critical because a conductor can be considered as a rail-guide for both the electric fields within a conductor, and for the magnetic fields outside the conductor. The astonishingly smooth and pure Perfect-Surface eliminates harshness and greatly increases clarity compared to OFHC, OCC, 8N and other coppers. The superior purity of PSC+ further minimizes distortion caused by grain boundaries, which exist within any metal conductor.
PE AIR-TUBES: Air is a nearly perfect dielectric. Once DBS is attached (for 2 weeks), the normal irritation caused by un-biased PE Air-Tubes is eliminated.
DIELECTRIC BIAS SYSTEM (DBS) (US patent 7,126,055): Greatly improved performance is made possible by a constant 48 volt charge on all Columbia’s insulation.
Similar to how the earth’s magnetic field makes all compasses point north, the AQ DBS system creates an electrostatic field which causes the molecules of the insulation to all point in the same direction. This minimizes the multiple nonlinear time-delays. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. Because DBS battery packs are attached when Columbia cables are assembled, Columbia does not require any additional run-in period. Because there is no “load” on the easily replaceable batteries, they will last for years. A test button and LED allow for occasional verification of battery performance.
NOISE-DISSIPATION SYSTEM: 100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground-reference requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground-plane.
TRIPLE-BALANCED: The 3 conductors in “Triple-Balanced” Columbia cables insure that whether prepared with RCA or XLR plugs, the positive and negative signals have equally low distortion conducting paths. The 100% coverage shield is never used as an inferior conductor.
TERMINATION: Columbia’s plugs are Resistance Welded to the cable in a process which sends 8,000 amperes of current through the junction of conductor and plug for 33 millionths of a second. The heat resulting from the resistance of the metals locally liquefies the conductor and the plug, creating a single material alloy where the two meet. An ideal connection that puts any solder to shame. Columbia’s thickly silver-plated RCA plugs use a patented design that eliminates the distortion caused by the extra contact inside most plugs. Because the ground shells are stamped instead of machined, the metal can be chosen for low distortion instead of for its machinability. Columbia's RCA and XLR connectors have silver thickly plated directly over the plug parts, without the intermediary nickel layer common to almost all other plugs. Silver plating provides the best possible connection, regardless of plating on the equipment jacks.

NOISE-DISSIPATION SYSTEM: 100% shield coverage is easy. Preventing captured RF Interference from modulating the equipment’s ground-reference requires AQ’s Noise-Dissipation System. Metal and Carbon-Loaded synthetics prevent most RFI from reaching the equipment’s ground-plane.SOLID PSC+ COPPER: Perfect-Surface Technology applied to extreme-purity copper eliminates irritation and provides tremendous clarity.DIELECTRIC-BIAS SYSTEM (DBS, US Pat #7,126,055): All insulation slows down the signal on the conductor inside. When insulation is un-biased, it slows down parts of the signal differently, a big problem for very time sensitive multi-octave audio.AudioQuest’s DBS creates a strong stable electrostatic field which saturates and polarizes (organizes) the molecules of the insulation. This minimizes both energy storage in the insulation and the multiple nonlinear time-delays. Sound appears from a surprisingly black background with unexpected detail and dynamic contrast. The DBS pack’s batteries will last for years. A test button and LED allow for the occasional battery check.PE AIR-TUBES: Air is a nearly perfect dielectric. Once the DBS is attached (for 2 weeks), the normal irritation caused by un-biased Teflon is eliminated.TRIPLE-BALANCED: Optimized for RCA or XLRCOLD-WELD SYSTEM: Novel plug design enables a perfect heat-free connection between cable and plug. XLR plugs are also available.

Providing your item is in stock, the order is usually dispatched within 24 hours. Please remember that postage and packing is completely free for orders over £50*. Out of stock items will be dispatched as soon as they become available, out of stock items can take between 4 to 21 days for dispatch.

Deliveries usually take 1-3 working days. The majority of orders are sent via our couriers'; Interlink Express on a next-day-delivery service. Smaller, low value or light-weight items are normally posted using Royal Mail Recorded or Royal Mail Special Delivery.

Once your product has been dispatched, you will be notified via email and sent a unique consignment number, you can use this number at http://www.interlinkexpress.com to check the status of your delivery. If you have provided a mobile telephone number, Interlink's Predict service will notify you by text (and email) of a one-hour delivery window. If the window they suggest is inconvenient, you can change the date of delivery to a later one via text or email.

*We ship free of charge to mainland UK addresses, excluding the Scottish Highlands or 'Out-Of-Reach' Scottish locations. Please consult the post-codes below to see if your location falls within this category. If you are still unsure, please contact us on 01432 354921. We also ship to Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Scilly Isles, Scottish Isles and Scottish Highlands, however delivery to these locations will incur a charge and can only be sent via a 2-day service.